In the latest episode of The Reg Sofa, Deborah Young speaks with Ryan Burke, a member of the Women Regulators Network Leadership Council, about why financial abuse remains one of the least understood barriers to women's economic empowerment.
Financial abuse is often hidden in plain sight.
While financial inclusion efforts focus on access to accounts, credit and services, Ryan challenges us to ask a deeper question:
Can women safely control and benefit from the financial products they access?
Financial abuse can include restricting access to income, controlling accounts, forcing debt, misusing joint accounts, or redirecting funds. These behaviours can undermine financial independence and limit economic opportunity.
Importantly, this is not only a social issue. Financial products and systems can unintentionally enable abuse, making it relevant to consumer protection, responsible lending, market conduct and financial inclusion.
Through the Women Regulators Network, we're bringing regulators, policymakers and industry leaders together to explore how financial safety can become as important as financial access.
A highlight from the discussion was the leadership of the Bank of Papua New Guinea, which has convened financial institutions to develop a voluntary code addressing financial abuse and strengthening financial safety by design.
💭 How can regulators move beyond measuring inclusion through access alone and place greater emphasis on safety, control and economic empowerment?
Watch the full podcast episode:
Catch up on episode 1 featuring Kate Jones, CEO of the UK's Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF), exploring why diversity creates better leadership, governance and digital age regulation.
Public sector authorities can join the RKE at https://rke.ccaf.io/